A Different Definition of Love
by La Fille Avec Le Stylo
Summary: So you love me enough to wish me unhappiness and heartbreak?


"... and so I'm going to need Grandmother's engagement ring." Draco Malfoy cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He was not pleased by his mother's expression following his proclamation; he had rather hoped for happiness, or at least pride in her son's conviction. Her expression was closer to loathing, or perhaps disgust, than what he had planned on.

In her defense, it was hardly fair to expect Narcissa Malfoy to be ecstatic after her son told her he planned on marrying a muggle- born girl, and one who was Harry Potter's best friend, at that. She sighed inwardly. _Years of careful breeding... wasted._

"Wasted," she sighed again.

"What?" Draco asked, pushing aside his feeling of deep self- pity long enough to inquire as to what his mother was on about, as that had not been a complete sentence.

"Nothing, Draco," his mother said quickly, mortified that she had spoken aloud. A Malfoy _never_ forgot themself like that.

She raked her eyes over her son's face, marveling at how such a perfect wizard specimen could ever wish to... _bond themselves_ to a muggle- born in that way. She would have been no less shocked had he walked into the room and announced his desire to become a cockatoo and join a traveling circus. Her sky- blue eyes probed his blue- gray ones, silently asking hims what had gotten into him, when her little boy had become so corrupted by that old fool Dumbledore's message. How did the old man manage to spread his idiocy even after his death?

_"You cannot be with him, Narcissa, his is an animal."_

_"That's ridiculous!"_

_"You know what cousin Fenrir told us about him, he's been bitten. His is a savage beast, and is not nearly good enough for the likes of you."_

"She's an animal, Draco," Narcissa said calmly, smoothing nonexistent wrinkles out of her robes. "The girl is not nearly good enough for the likes of you."

"That's rubbish, she is not an animal. She is brilliant and gorgeous and I'm the one who isn't good enough in our relationship!"

"Draco, darling, calm down. There is no need to raise your voice, especially in the presence of a lady; we raised you better than that."

"I love her, mother, and you can't change that, lady or not."

_"I love him, mother! I don't care about that stupid bite!"_

_"Tell me, Narcissa, what is your plan? Marriage, then cubs? Half- breeds? The Black tree can be traced back to the noble Slytherin family, and you wish to throw this untainted lineage away because you have misplaced affection for an old schoolmate?"_

_"This is not misplaced affection, mother, I love him. I don't care about bloodlines, not anymore! If cubs is what I'll have with him, then cubs are what I want! I want him, werewolf or not!"_

"Did you know your blood can be traced all the way back to the Slytherin family, Draco?" Narcissa asked, her silky voice venom to her son's ears. "Yes, on my side of the family. Perfectly pure wizard blood, the blood of some of the most powerful sorcerers ever to have graced the earth, and you wish to throw this all away on a whim."

"I love her, mother," Draco said through gritted teeth. "This is hardly what I would call a whim."

"This is a crush," she snapped.

"This is love, something you clearly have no concept of!"

"You have blood which is envied by wizards and witches alike all over the world. _You _clearly have no concept of _that_! What happens after you propose, hm? Marriage, with children soon to follow? Half- bloods with no real place in our world, not being muggle- born and yet not being pure? Freaks?"

"I'd rather freaks than bigots."

_"So if you were to see this through, what would you do for finances, hm?"_

_"Wh- what do you mean? Finances?"_

_"Surely you didn't think I would support a girl who, after years of being given everything she wanted and being showered with love, abandoned every principle I raised her with."_

_"Mother you can't, please! I would need your help! How could you even think to abandon your daughter like this?"_

_"If you see this through, Narcissa, I can assure you that I will have one daughter less than I did."_

"So, if you marry the girl, what is your plan to support the ragtag family you so desire?" Narcissa smiled, but barely. Her lips became a thine line, more a smirk than a smile. Draco was reminded of a snake preparing to attack it's prey.

"I assume I would inherit Father's place in the company, take over the family finances and so forth. That is, after all, the family tradition." Draco said this with as much conviction as he could muster, trying desperately to hide the fear which had struck his heart upon seeing his mother's expression.

"Draco, Draco, Draco," his mother chuckled, her long blonde hair swishing with every shake of her head. "Surely you didn't think we would ever bother to support you if you saw this through? No no no, you cannot abandon every principle we raised you with and then demand a job from your Father. Manners, Draco."

Draco fumed silently. He had known his parents might be unreasonable about this, he had understood they still felt a deep loathing for all things muggle- related, he had known he and his chosen one would encounter problems from his family. He had not, however, expected to be threatened with the possibility of being disowned.

"You call yourself a mother," he spat.

_"I hate you! All you care about it lineage! You aren't a mother, you're a disgrace to the word!"_

_"To which word, Narcissa?"_

_"Mother."_

_"Well that's hardly fair. After all, I did raise you. Love you. Give you everything you asked for."_

_"Then please give me this, it's the only thing I've ever asked for that I've felt this way about. Let me be with him."_

_"Let you be with a wolf?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Narcissa, I care for you more than you will ever know. Despite what you think at the present moment, I am your mother and I love you. It is for that very reason that I am going to deny you this ridiculous request."_

"I can't believe I ever looked up to you," Draco said quietly. His voice was dripping with disdain, emphasized by the looks of pure loathing he was systematically shooting his mother every thirty seconds. "You're foul."

"I know you will find this hard to believe at the present moment, Draco, but I am your mother and I love you very much. I love you enough to want to prevent the troubles you will encounter in the future if you see this through."

"So you love me enough to wish me unhappiness and heartbreak?"

"I love you enough to ensure you will have the life you deserve!"

"But not the one I want, is that it?"

"When you are older," the pale woman said firmly, "you will understand why I am saying the things I am saying. You are too young to understand right now."

_"Have you considered, daughter dearest, that his family isn't of the same caliber as yours? That you are lowering yourself? That in being with him your quality of life will decrease dramatically?"_

_"He comes from a good family, I've met them! They're kind and accepting and I only wish I'd been raised in such a loving family!"_

_"His family, nice though they may be, is trash. Plain and simple."_

_"Trash? Is that what they are? I saw them more as wonderful people with normal incomes, and a damn sight nicer than this family, at that!"_

_"Is that so?"_

_"I was raised never to lie, Mother."_

"Her family is-"

"Wonderful, Mother. Her family is wonderful, blood has nothing to do with character." Draco shot a look of disgust at the portrait of his great- great- grandfather, who was shaking his head solemnly and sighing rather loudly every five minutes.

"If you would let me finish, I was going to say that her family is not of the same caliber as yours. Nice though they may be, it does not change the fact that in being with her you are lowering yourself and thus your entire family. Do you really want to do that to the people who raised you?"

"The people who raised me to be a bigot, you mean?"

"The people who loved you."

"If this is what love is then maybe I'm not in love with her, because you seem to be saying that love is synonymous with destroying one's confidence and raising them to hate."

"Her family is trash, yours is not. End of discussion."

_"You will never be with Remus Lupin, Narcissa. If you try, you will suffer the consequences."_

"You will never be with Hermione Granger, Draco. If you try, you will suffer the consequences."

"I look forward to it," Draco shot, standing up quickly and striding to the door of the sitting room, disappearing through it and leaving his mother alone in her chair.

Watching her son's retreating figure, Narcissa wasn't entirely sure if she was angry or jealous.


End file.
